I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers ” written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ).  If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. I know that people have an allergy to lawyers out of fear of being screwed.  Much of this is unfounded – some is not. 

Hint: He was an entrepreneur. The same is true of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is so highly valued in the Western World that some people try to convince themselves that they are an entrepreneur, when in fact they would be better off at a Big Dumb Company (“BDC”). These would-be entrepreneurs are best classified as Wantrepreneurs, as discussed in Entrepreneurial Enterviewing . This is a reposting of a ‘classic’ popular post. “You You are forty, out of a job, a newlywed, your wife is expecting a baby, you don’t own your own home, you have no specialized

When I drill down on that term, you can see why with posts like: Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Lops A Third Of Company THQ Lays Off 100 Employees, Closes San Diego Office Citrix Cuts 10 Percent; Santa Barbara Hit And it's also interesting to see what geographies are being associated with "Layoffs" more often than others: Layoffs Woodland Hills Layoffs San Diego Layoffs Santa Monica Layoffs Los Angeles I guess this is a sign of the times. The Scott Sanfilippo Interview Media Optimization Firms Are Red Hot In Southern California in 2009

No one wakes up and says to themselves, “I need to buy that product I have never heard of before.” As Marketing Guru Guy Gabriel of Idea Engineering points out in Max Brand , viral marketing has made many an entrepreneur terminally ill. Affiliates invest the up-front marketing expenses required to attract customers.  “I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half.” John Wanamaker

In addition to all of them reaching the pinnacle of their chosen professions, they also all started their careers performing the same job. Surely a savvy, modern-day entrepreneur can utilize online tools to leverage young peoples’ collective energy and fervor.  Punctuality – Newspapers had to be delivered on time, irrespective of the weather, the fact that Sunday papers can weigh several pounds each or the requirement What do Warren Buffet, Martin Luther King, John Wayne, Walt Disney, Harry Truman and Wayne Gretzky all have in common? All of these extremely successful

Fortunately, entrepreneurs need not fear running afoul of this sin when crafting their business plans, because all of them are inherently imperfect and imprecise. Although entrepreneurs need not fear offending God with their flawless business plan, it remains a worthwhile ideal. Click, Click, Try, Buy – Ideally, customers should be comfortable purchasing your solution online, without picking Note: This is Part I in a three-part series on The Perfect Business Model. Click here for Part II , and Part III

As noted Fast Followers II , fast-follower entrepreneurs must have a solid point of differentiation in order to succeed. In fact, it is often more advantageous for an entrepreneurs to differentiate their offering through an alternative disruptive means. The intent is that the runners from the opposing teams, not sure whether or not the rabbit can maintain her aggressive pace, will push themselves to keep up, while the rabbit’s teammates This is part III of a three part series. Click here for Part I and Part II

I recently got together with Aaron Shechet and an early stage startup to discuss the direction the company might want to take. It was a great conversation and I thought it would be a good idea to do some visible networking with Aaron to get to know him better. Tell me a bit about your background. I grew up in Los Angeles and went to undergrad at UC Santa Barbara, graduating in 2003 with Honors in Economics. While at UC I then went to Pepperdine University School of Law and graduated in 2006 with a Certificate from the Geoffrey H.

Santa Barbara-based RightSignature , online, software-as-a-service for collecting electronic signatures, took "Best of Show" at VentureNet Wednesday, after a day of presentations by thirteen Southern California startups. Tags: rightsignature venturenet saas prize startup entrepreneu VentureNet, which is put on by the Technology Council of Southern California, included keynotes by Kelly Perdew of Rotohog and Zorik Gordon of ReachLocal, plus capital presentations from Cyber-Rain, FlipGloss Media, Viewdle, Social Approach, Ad.ly, Zadspace, RightSignature, Cogi, YouMail, ExpenseBay, AffordIt.com, SharesPost, and TrueCar.

However, in the world of startups, relationships that go beyond a casual acquaintance can provide your adVenture with a significant competitive advantage. The difference between the relationships established by members of a startup and those pursued by employees of a BDC is analogous to the contrast between the teacher / student relationship at private and public elementary schools. However, at your startup, This is a reposting of a ‘classic’ popular post. Bro – abbreviation of “Brother”, meaning friend or dude.